


Life During Wartime

by wandrinparakeet



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Ficmix, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-14
Updated: 2011-02-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 17:54:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandrinparakeet/pseuds/wandrinparakeet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficmix inspired by sho_no_tabi’s stories</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life During Wartime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Soul Awake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/340818) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Something Like](https://archiveofourown.org/works/340804) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Dig, Lazarus, Dig](https://archiveofourown.org/works/341075) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Life During Wartime](https://archiveofourown.org/works/341323) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Red Oni, Blue Oni](https://archiveofourown.org/works/341696) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Keep Calm And Carry On](https://archiveofourown.org/works/342045) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 
  * Inspired by [Glitch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/343882) by [Tabi_essentially](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabi_essentially/pseuds/Tabi_essentially). 



**Liner Notes  
**

**A Soul Awake**

> 1\. Mr. Pinstripe Suit - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy  
>  The gangster point man of legend.  I couldn’t resist using this song, and I kind of like the idea that this is Arthur’s reputation and all the ways it’s both accurate and inaccurate.
> 
> 2\. It Can’t Come Quickly Enough - Scissor Sisters  
>  This is the song for the thrill of dream sharing, of the early days of the Cobbs, and the zing of the first meeting between Arthur and Eames.

**Interlude: Brick**

> 3\. Suburbia- Matthew Good  
>  I wanted a song to acknowledge Arthur’s back story (basically, go see Brick, and you’re golden.)  I like the way this song echoes leaving it behind as much as he can, but how his past will always haunt him, very much because he lets it.  
>   
> 

**A Soul Awake**

> 4\. The Fallen- Franz Ferdinand  
>  This is for the wonderful introduction of Arthur’s talent for violence and Eames delight in it.  I’m sidestepping all the Jesus references, although I do think Arthur can have a bit of a “none of you can even come close” sort of vibe.  The line, “I break this bottle and think of you fondly...”  I can SO see Eames thinking that.
> 
> 5\. Falling is Like This- Ani Di Franco  
>  The conversation between Arthur and Eames on the train.  As always, I love their banter, and I particularly love the glimmer of what they will become in all of those pauses and discovery.  
>   
> 

**Dig, Lazarus, Dig**

> 6\. This Tornado Loves You- Neko Case  
>  It’s hard to express how much I love this story, despite it’s extreme creepiness.  (The laughing!  The maggot!  Shudder!)  This is a song that doesn’t fit with too many mixes, but the love, desperation, and trail of bodies fits this unexpectedly well.  
>   
> 

**Something Like**

> 7\. Dissolved Girl- Mezzanine  
>  This story...I really appreciate the mixture of remarkably hot sex AND significant character development.  Also, that people work things out through sex. This song is Arthur’s POV: his reluctance, his intent to avoid conversations, and his ultimate decision to actually have the necessary conversation.  
> 
> 8\. Try Whistling This- Neil Finn  
>  Eames POV.  I like how Eames knows to push Arthur but is also surprised by the results -- he doesn’t know everything, but knows he needs to provoke.    
>   
> 

**Life During Wartime**

> 9\. Never Let Me Down- Depeche Mode  
>  Oh Depeche Mode.  Only you can make a road trip with best friends seem more than a bit like sex.  But, how appropriate.  This story was actually the first I read, and I adored it so much I went back and mainlined everything else.  I love the companionship in these stories as much as I love the badass moments, and the whole road trip and hotel stay is charming beyond belief.  Plus...how adorable is it that Arthur thinks he’s plain!?  Plain!
> 
> 10\. Waiting Under the Waves- Kris Delmhorst  
>  Of course, everything goes south quickly.  Separation, trying to figure out just what is going on.  
> 
> 11\. Infra-Red- Placebo  
>  There are a number of BAMF songs here, and this one is all about coming after Kelly.  The chair.  The dream.  The final confrontation.  Arthur does not take kindly to Eames being threatened, no sir.
> 
> 12\. The Lightning Strike- Snow Patrol  
>  The leap.  That leap has kind of crystalized in my mind as the emblematic moment of all these stories, plus it gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite Snow Patrol songs appropriately.  I love the description -- Eames’s seeing Arthur fly, then drop.  Then the rescue.  *flail*
> 
> 13\. Work- Jars of Clay  
>  This song is for the recovery.  After all, this hurt/comfort series wouldn’t be much without the comfort, yes?  
>   
> 

**Keep Calm and Carry On**

> 14\. Armistice- Phoenix  
>  This is mostly a song for the balance Arthur and Eames manage to maintain -- that they obviously (obviously!) love each other, but they also keep separate lives.  It’s a negotiation, and it may cause confusion and the occasional frustration (see Something Like) but it’s how they are...
> 
> 15\. Gold- Lamb  
>  ...and yet, the depth of feeling is never really in doubt.  “You put a strength in me...”  That’s it, right there.  There is no doubt in either about how they feel at this point, but neither needs to advertise to themselves or anyone else.  
>   
> 

**Red Oni, Blue Oni**

> 16\. Blinding- Florence + the Machine  
>  This song was pretty much tailored for an Inception mix, and especially Mal.  I love how this installment explores just how Arthur’s natural subconscious unfurls, and how much Mal still haunts him.
> 
> 17\. Ghost Town- Cary Brothers  
>  Working through all the dreams.  “A map that points to all our mistakes.”
> 
> 18\. Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide- Ok Go & Bonerama  
>  A song of commitment, to be sure, but an affectionate, unconventional one.  And this has a very Eames voice to it.  (Of course, it is Bowie, so...yeah.)  
>   
> 

**Glitch**

> 19\. Help I’m Alive- Metric  
>  That whole opening sequence: once again Arthur is an amazing survivor.  And incredibly smart about what to do in dire straits.
> 
> 20\. APB- Grant Lee Buffalo  
>  Eames’s search.  I love how Cobb points out Eames’s is the one to find Arthur, and what that proves about them, whatever they may deny.
> 
> 21\. Breathe Me- Sia  
>  Arthur’s fragility and need for physical reassurance may be out of character, but...it was so satisfying!  And this is a kind of echo, with all its lovely piano surges, to the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 reference in Life During Wartime.
> 
> 22\. Future Proof- Massive Attack  
>  The Glitch itself.  I needed an electronic, creeptastic song, and Massive Attack is always there to provide.
> 
> 23\. Thistle & Weeds- Mumford & Sons  
>  The glitch altered dreamscape, complete with the swamp and the unsettling premonition of drowning.  
> 
> 24\. Lightning Field- Sneaker Pimps  
>  This is my favorite Arthur BAMF song.  Tabi has said that she imagine Arthur killing people to Rachmaninoff (which I can totally see), but this song, with it’s building base crescendo, is what I see as his personal murderous soundtrack.
> 
> 25\. Daylight- Better Than Ezra  
>  But we can’t end on a murderous note.  Glitch ends with an understated declaration of devotion.  I couldn’t ask for a better feeling to end on.  
>   
> 

[Listen](http://ge.tt/6Qre2cb/v/1)

**Author's Note:**

> This mix started as a general BAMF mix. The opposite of the previous mix I made. Then I read tabi’s stories, and...focused.
> 
> There are so many moments I love I didn’t get to reference here. Eames talking through his forges in his sleep. Cobb being both paternal and insightful. The brilliantly awkward conversation about going to NYC when everyone else just giggles at them. But I had to stop sometime or else the mix would never, ever be done! I waited until Glitch was finished (which might be why it has the most songs, as it’s the one currently lingering in my head.)
> 
> Also, there’s a lot of great music already referenced in the stories. I made a conscious decision not to include them to challenge myself. I almost included the Rachmaninoff, but one, it’s long, and two, that particular piece is hard to crowbar away from The Seven Year Itch in my brain.
> 
> The imbalance between songs relating to stories has nothing to do with how much I loved any stories, just what moments linger in my head and seem to work as musical punctuation or grace notes. Mixes are always a new way for me to process and relive a story, or sequence of stories, and so they become a kind of road map to recall what I loved.
> 
> Join me over at my [tumblr](http://wandrinparakeet.tumblr.com/).


End file.
